Setting Up Networking in Slackware Linux

Do you need to set up networking for your machine running Slackware Linux? Let Travis Tilley take you through the steps of the netconfig tool in his latest piece for Linux.com. You should be up on the network in no time!

Page 1 of 1

The program that sets up your networking scripts under Slackware is
called netconfig. In order to use this program, you must be logged in
under the user root. The command that allows you to switch to a superuser
(a common name for the root user) is called su. If you're in console,
type su and hit enter. If you're in X, open up your favorite terminal
emulator first. The su program will now ask for a password. Enter the root
password, hit enter, and you should now see a # instead of a $ at the
prompt. Now that we're root, we can get to work, so type in netconfig and
hit enter.

First, netconfig will ask you for a hostname and a domain name.
Your hostname is the name by which your network sees your individual
computer, and the domain name is the name you want to give your network.
Anything will do, and I encourage you to have fun with it.

After setting up a hostname and domain name, you will be asked
whether you want to configure a loopback only system, a DHCP system, or a
static IP. You want to choose only static IP if you have been assigned
one by your systems administrator or internet service provider or if you
are setting up a network yourself. Static ip means the ip associated with
your computer never changes. If your network uses DHCP to assign
computers dynamic IPs, you will want to choose that option. A dynamic IP
means that you get a new IP every time you sign on to the network.
Dial-up access to the Internet works this way, but for dial-up only
networking you don't want to choose DHCP. For modem-only networks you
want to choose to have a loopback-only system, and if that is your
choice, you have set up your networking and should now set up your PPPD
of choice (which is beyond the scope of this how-to).

Since most of you will have either a loopback system or a static IP
system, I will go into the configuration of a static IP system first. If
this was your choice at the menu, you will next be asked for an IP and
netmask for your machine. Your IP is like the address for your machine.
No two machines on a network can have the same IP. There are IP ranges
reserved for internal networks (meaning they can't be used by machines on
the Internet) so that you can make sure your machines don't have the
same IP as another machine connected to the Internet. These reserved IPs
are: 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255, 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255, and
192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255 . In ipv4 the numbers 0 and 255 have
special importance, so you really shouldn't use them in your IP. The
netmask decides what type of network you will have and what size it will
be. For most purposes, a class C network will do, so just hit return for
the default netmask of 255.255.255.0 . With a netmask of 255.255.255.0,
the first 3 numbers are for the network and the last number is for the
individual machine. So if you decided to have two computers networked in
a class C network, they would have to have the first 3 numbers of their
IPs the same, so as to be on the same network, and the last number
different, so as to be considered different machines. If you're setting
up a box on somebody else's network, ask the systems administrator
what IP and netmask to use.

After entering your netmask you should be asked for a gateway IP. A
gateway connects two networks. For example, if you wanted to have every
box on your network access the Internet as if they were directly
connected to the Internet, you would set up the box with the Internet
connection as a gateway and then you could access the Internet from all
computers on the network through the gateway. If you don't have a machine
on your network set up as a gateway box, just keep this blank. Once
again, ask your systems administrator if you are setting up a box on
somebody else's network. Most networks use the first ip number for their
gateway to keep things from getting confusing (like 192.168.0.1).

The next step is to specify a nameserver IP. A nameserver, or DNS
server, is for resolving hostnames into IPs. If you are going to be
connecting this box to the Internet, you need to get the DNS server IP
from your ISP, otherwise you will be confused when you can't connect to
www.linux.com even though you know you're on the Internet . There are
a lot of open DNS servers around, or you might want to call your ISP to
find out what theirs is (SNET hands out their IPs and netmasks with their
installation disks). Congratulations, you have configured your network!

If your network uses DHCP to configure IPs, choose that option on
the menu. This will bring up the option to probe for your network card
and have your machine load the device driver module for your card at boot
if it finds it. There is a small chance the probe will cause problems,
but I suggest you have it probe anyway. Keep in mind that you will need
to compile support for your network card as a module. Kernel
configuration and compiling is way beyond the scope of this document. If
you need help with that, try the howtos in Linux.com's HOWTO section. Congrats,
you have now configured your network.

If you've misconfigured your network, didn't configure it at all,
or want to change those settings you can always run netconfig again. Have
fun!

Page 1 of 1

Originally published on Linux.com. Released under the Open Content License unless otherwise stated.
Notify Gareth Watts of any
errors or copyright violations.